Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News , New Music , Exclusive , Q + A Wesley Curtis Last month, Black Francis and his wife, Violet Clark, released Let the People Speak , their second album as Grand Duchy . Featuring a more electronic vibe and an old-school radio DJ introducing the songs, it's a much more developed record than their 2009 debut, Petit Fours . Spinner recently caught [...]

Hey, it's a Black Francis project! This ought to be good, right? Read more »
A handful of the numbers on Grand Duchy's second album, Let the People Speak , are fun and interesting, and the band's unique marriage of slick, synth-heavy electropop and dark folk-rock can be a happy one. We like it when families or lovers sing together. The Carter Family, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Oasis, the White Stripes, Handsome Furs, Arcade Fire - the real drama we read about, or the tension and passion we could just be imagining, can give the music a heightened sense of intimacy and intensity. Blood or romance can become guarantees of authentic connection [...]

There's a lot to get excited about this week. Choir of Young Believers has already gotten a bunch of good buzz, a new record from Counting Crows came as a complete surprise, and MoMA's Kraftwerk box set is sure to please a lot of people who couldn't get tickets to their New York shows. And that's not enough beginning to scratch the surface. There's also plenty of reissues from Opeth , long-awaited self-titled albums from Scars on 45 and Lissy Trullie , and a new record from Black Francis [...]
Grand Duchy have released a new video for "White Out", the latest single from their new album, Let The People Speak . Watch it below. Read more »

Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV lives his life under multiple monikers. Most famously, he goes by Black Francis, frontman of The Pixies. Calling themselves Grand Duchy , Francis and his wife, Violet Clark, released Petits Fours in 2009. Now, the marital, musical duo is set to follow up that debut with Let The People Speak , out April 10th from Sonic Unyon. As a companion to Let The People Speak , post-dubstep "sound designer" Gloom Prophet has compiled remixes of the album's tracks in a compilation entitled Let [...]

A brief edition today, but we have February's mix and some cool new videos. Blogophilia 35 Volume 35 features the best promotional tracks posted in February 2012 from The Dadada and other music blogs. Please support the artists you like by purchasing their albums, attending their shows, and buying their merchandise. Blogophilia 35 Gapless Mix Ripped @192 kbps Download all tracks in one zip file [...]

In this edition: Grand Duchy returns, De La Soul's First Serve, and this week's videos! Grand Duchy to release "Let the People Speak" When Black Francis and his wife, Violet Clark , formed Grand Duchy , few would have guessed the resulting "debut" album would be among his best efforts outside the famed band, The Pixies . On "Petit Fours", Clark's love of synth pop and electronic music won out over Francis' tastes in punk [...]
You really can't go wrong with any project that has Black Francis 's involvement. One of these, Grand Duchy , is preparing their sophomore album for an April 11th release. For a little taste, you can view the video for "Silver Boys" (that has plenty of Andy Worhol illusions) above.

Grand Duchy, the project of Black Francis and Violet Clark, have released a new video for the single "Silver Boys" off their upcoming sophomore album Let The People Speak out April 10th on Sonic Unyon. Watch the video for "Silver Boys" below. Read more »
Ladies and gents, it's official: Friday is here! Let's celebrate with a little jam session, shall we? This week we're bringing you tons of free goodies. Check out a video from Nada Surf's album release show and free singles by Grand Duchy, Yellow Ostrich, Xray Eyeballs, and Zambri. Then, finish it off ...

While trolling the inbox and the internets for content to highlight in the first IT Dept. post of 2012, Nathan was kind enough to point me to this track. It gets its own post because it is awesome. Grand Duchy is Frank Black and his wife Violet Clark pulling a Handsome Furs . This is the first I have heard off of Let the People Speak , the forthcoming follow-up to Petite Fours . Due April 10th, the new album, in their words, is "definitely more about slamming it [...]

ARTIST: The SWAG Report 91 with freebie mp3 downloads for songs by artists including Violet Lights, Elliott BROOD, The Delta Spirit, Rusko, Royal Canoe, Mansions On The Moon, Eax Autres, Cuff The Duke, Cherri Bomb and more! So much more! DATE: 01-21-12 WRITER: Don Loder Happy Christmas Two Junky, Well, I think that's what John Lithgow called it anyway, an' we'll call it that on accountabecause "The Biggest SWAG Report I done in a while, ya lucky punk" doesn't exactly roll off the [...]
Final post for this week. I wish you all a great week-end. We'll be back on Monday morning. Cheers. Today's selection of free and legal - because: official - downloads.... PNAU - Unite Us (Raffertie Remix) Metal Blade Records - February 2012 Releases Wavves - Hybrid Moments [Misfits Cover] E.L. - Obuu Mo Said the Whale - Heavy Ceiling The Cornshed Sisters - Dance At My Wedding Cymbals Eat Guitars - Definite Darkness Vuurwerk - Desire Go Pressed And - Blue Noun [...]
Frank Black and Violet Clark are back with a new single.

Frank Black of Grand Duchy at Siren Festival (07/18/09) Photo : Jon Klemm ( more ) Because I imagine it's hard to give up a good thing, Pixies have announced yet another set of Doolittle tour dates. As the "Lost Cities" moniker suggests, this round of shows is geared towards visiting those towns and hamlets that were left out of previous Pixies tour itineraries. While there is no proper NYC show this time around, the band will be visiting the nearby Wellmont Theatre on [...]

Black Francis / Frank Black /Charles Thompson IV is a man of many accomplishments. Whether it's fronting the Pixies , producing records for Art Brut, releasing solo albums, recording with his wife as Grand Duchy, running a sort-of record label, or whatever exciting new task tickles his fancy, Francis consistently proves his genius, both lyrically and musically. And his newest release, The Golem , is just another new form of that genius. Instead of putting out another stellar rock album, Francis put together music to accompany the 1920 silent film The Golem: How [...]

Black Francis’s vocals have been called a lot of things, but in all likelihood, they have rarely if never been called: calming, heart-warming and comforting. And yet, 35 seconds into the opening track on Petits Fours , the delicate echoing keydoards creating a freefalling sonic landscape for the first 34, Black Francis and a telecaster start in, upsetting table and chairs and kicking over, with intent not volume, all the tables and chairs. And as a listener who had a healthy dose of Doolittle and Bossanova during my college years, [...]

Filed under: News , New Music , Exclusive The concepts of love and intimacy are prevalent throughout Black Francis ' sexually-charged new solo album, 'NonStopErotik.' Even the gentle, piano-based title track would make a sweet, tender love song, if you can get past its repeated "I want to be inside of you" refrain. But, as Francis tells Spinner, all that romance has nothing to do with Grand Duchy , his collaboration with wife Violet Clark . "The songs that get sexual when I'm [...]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/b etweenloveandlike/3766150823/ , originally uploaded by BetweenLoveandLike . Pixies and Grand Duchy frontman Black Francis (or Frank Black or Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV when he's feeling most jaunty) has gone from songs about UFOs, to songs of love to most currently, songs of sex and his love for the vagin , exhibitionism, and...The Flying Burritto Brothers? Out 3/30, NonStopErotik features 10 original songs plus most interestingly, a cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers track "Wheels" from their Gilded Palace of Sin record. "I am Man Ray [...]